Brandt Nigro - Director of Swimming & Diving - Women's Swimming and Diving Coaches

Brandt Nigro

Title:
Director of Swimming & Diving
Email:
brandt.nigro@westpoint.edu
Phone:
3604

Brandt Nigro was named the Head Coach of Army West Point Swimming & Diving in the summer of 2019 and is in his sixth year at the helm. In June of 2024, his title moved to Director of Swimming & Diving as he continues to oversee and lead all aspects of the program.

The program has seen its most success in decades with Nigro at the helm, including Army’s first NCAA Qualifier in over 30 seasons, first victory over Navy in over 30 years and a Patriot League Coach of the Year Award for Nigro. Since taking over the reins, the men's and women's teams have posted a combined 57-33-1 dual meet record, which includes a 28-10 mark against Patriot League opponents.

During the 2024-25 campaign, the Black Knights built upon their successes from the previous season. Both men’s and women’s programs went a combined 12-4 in dual meets and a stellar 8-0 in regular season conference meets. Army claimed their first sweep over the Navy Midshipmen since 1988. On top of this, the men’s program claimed their first Patriot League title in 24 years with 19 first-place finishes at the championship meet. Junior Molly Webber earned co-Women’s Highest Point Scorer at the Patriot League championship meet, and freshman Johnny Crush earned Rookie and Men’s Swimmer of the Meet.

The Black Knights shattered program records, notably breaking the men’s 400 and 800 free relays, men’s 400 medley relay program, pool, Patriot League, and championship meet records. On top of this, junior Kohen Rankin set program, pool, Patriot League, and championship meet records in the 200 breaststroke.

Nigiro earned the 2025 SwimSwam Coach of the Year Honorable Mention Recognition and was named Patriot League Men’s Coach of the Year. In the 2024-25 season, Army placed a record-setting 14 athletes on the All-Patriot League First Team, with 22 earning all-conference awards.

In 2023-24, the program saw one of its most successful campaigns in history, setting new program records in 26 out of a possible 44 events throughout the season. This included having sophomore Kohen Rankin qualify for the NCAA Championships in the 100 and 200 breast, becoming the first Army swimmer to qualify for the meet since 1987.

The Black Knights also had a program record 13 athletes named to the All-Patriot League First Team with 20 total garnering all-league accolades. Both Army teams placed second at the Patriot League Championships, setting 14 new program new records at the meet while claiming 15 first-place finishes. Sophomore Molly Webber was named Women’s Swimmer of the Meet and Highest Point Scorer after claiming three individual golds and two relay golds. Junior Wes Tate was also named the Highest Point Scorer on the men’s side, with both tabbing 96 points.

Nigro was also a finalist for the Mike Krzyzewski Teaching Character Through Sport Award, which recognizes West Point cadet-athletes, coaches, officers in charge and sport educators for their outstanding commitment to the development of noble character through athletic participation and leadership.

In 2022-23, Nigro was named the Patriot League Men’s Coach of the Year, with the Black Knights earning the program’s first victory over Navy since 1990. Army defeated the Mids by a score of 189-111 from Crandall Pool on the campus of the United States Military Academy, breaking the 30-plus year drought without a win over the service academy rival.

Nigro came to West Point after a two-year stint at NC State as an assistant coach for the swimming and diving teams. His primary responsibilities included working with the sprint freestyle and stroke events, and he also assisted in recruiting.

Both the men's and women's teams enjoyed tremendous success during the 2018-19 season as the Wolfpack men and women swept the ACC Championships team titles, with the Pack men winning their fifth straight conference crown. The Wolfpack women won a total of 11 event titles at the conference meet, setting the program record for the most single-season conference titles.

The men picked up a total of 17 podium finishes, including five gold medals. Coleman Stewart was honored as ACC Meet Co-MVP after racking up two individual titles and breaking a pair of ACC records.

At the 2019 ACC Women's Swim & Dive Championships, Nigro helped mentor the 200 freestyle relay squad to an ACC Title and an ACC Record while posting the second-fastest time in the country with a time of 1:26.15 - each member of this relay split 21's for the Wolfpack.

Both teams went on to tie program-best finishes at the NCAA Championships as the women placed seventh and the men secured their fourth team trophy and podium finish in a row with their fourth-place finish at the national meet. For the men, senior captain Andreas Vazaios won a national title in the 200 butterfly. At the women's NCAA Championship, Nigro guided sprinter Kylee Perry to 2 A Finals (50 freestyle & 100 freestyle), a first for a Wolfpack female sprinter. In addition, he helped coach several relays to program records and all-time high finishes - 200 freestyle & 200 medley relays.

Nigro also aided swimmers to several international meets, highlighted by Perry earning a gold medal in the 50 LCM freestyle at the World University Games in Napoli, Italy. Additionally, his swimmers competed internationally at the World Championships, Pan American Games, Pan Pacific Games, and Central American Games.

The 2017-18 season was highlighted by N.C. State’s first NCAA Individual Swimming Champion since 2006 as Stewart won the 100 backstroke at the national meet. Anton Ipsen (1,650 freestyle) and Andreas Vazaios (200 butterfly) also captured first-place finishes at the 2018 NCAA Championships, giving the Pack three individual titles for the first time in program history.

The Wolfpack’s relay teams set NCAA, U.S. Open, and American records to win both the 800 freestyle relay and the 400 freestyle relay. The five titles and 31 All-America performances led N.C. State’s men to their third straight fourth-place finish. The finish capped off another successful season during which the Wolfpack men became ACC Champions for the fourth year in a row, led by ACC Most Valuable Swimmer Ryan Held and ACC Men’s Swimmer of the Year Andreas Vazaios. The Wolfpack won four of the five relay events and 10 of 13 individual races at the 2018 Men's ACC Swimming & Diving Championships.

In total, while at N.C. Nigro had a hand in coaching the Wolfpack to a total of 112 All-America citations between the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons. He additionally was a member of the staff that coached N.C. State to a program-record five event wins, including three individual national titles, at the 2018 NCAA Championships. In addition to the Pack's three team wins at the ACC Championships over the course of the past two seasons, Nigro has been a part of 32 event titles at ACC Championships in that span of time.
Nigro also had a hand in coaching Wolfpack Elite, the Post Grad/Pro group training out of N.C. State. With Wolfpack Elite, Nigro had the opportunity to work with some of the biggest names in the sport such as Cullen Jones, Arianna Vanderpool-Wallace, Simonas Bilis, and Christopher Reid to name a few.

"We are thrilled to have Brandt taking over our swimming programs," Buddie said. "Everyone we spoke to about Brandt had great things to say about his work ethic, character and that he is a rising star in the sport. I am looking forward to following our cadet-athletes' success under his leadership."

Prior to Raleigh, Nigro had a successful season as an Head Assistant Coach at Marshall University during the 2016-17 season. In his one year at Marshall, he helped Marshall to its most successful season in program history. The Thundering Herd women's team scored a program-record 724 points at the Conference USA Championships to finish third. Nigro, who served as the primary coach for the sprint and backstroke groups, guided Sirena Rowe to the 2017 NCAA Championships. Rowe, the 2017 Conference USA Freshman of the Year, was the first Marshall swimmer to qualify for the NCAA Championships since 2005.

In addition, Marshall swimmers set 11 new school records, six pool records, and 10 NCAA B standards. The Thundering Herd also set high marks in the classroom, earning the nation's fifth-highest GPA.

Prior to Marshall, Nigro served as Head Senior Coach of the Retriever Aquatic Club. At RAC, he guided the club through USA Swimming's Club Recognition Program, helping it to achieve Level 4 Recognition, the highest level for USA swim clubs. He also coached multiple Junior National/Futures qualifiers, Academic All-Americans, and Maryland Swimming Senior Champions. From 2014 to 2016, he served on the staff of USA Swimming's Eastern Zone Select Camp.

During his time, he also worked with the University of Maryland, Baltimore County’s Men’s & Women’s Swimming & Diving teams who won back-to-back conference championships in his two seasons in Baltimore. He was a part of the 2015-16 CCSA Men's Coaching Staff of the Year and the 2014-15 America East Women's Coaching Staff of the Year. In those two seasons, 18 school records and eight conference records were set. The team was led by Emily Escobedo, who earned NCAA All-American honors in the 200 Breaststroke.

Nigro, a native of Bristol, Conn., began his collegiate coaching career as a volunteer assistant on the staff at Wesleyan University. He also coached extensively at the high school and club levels in Connecticut. Nigro worked as an assistant coach with the Cheshire YMCA Sea Dog Swim Club and served as head coach of Brookfield High School Girls Swim and Dive team, winning a Southwest Conference championship in 2012 (still the only in program history). Nigro is an ASCA Level 4 certified coach. He was selected to the ASCA Fellows Class of 2016 and interned at the Sprint Salo Swim Camp at the University of Southern California.

A former student-athlete at the College of Charleston, Nigro was a member of the 2003 Southern States Conference Championship team. He graduated with honors in 2005 with a B.A. in Political Science. In 2009, he graduated with honors from the University of Hartford with an M.S. and Sixth-Year Certificate in School Psychology. While in Connecticut, he worked as a state and nationally-certified school psychologist. Nigro and his wife Ginger, along with their two children Sophia and Hank, reside at West Point.